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Featured Industries

Fresh water is becoming a scarce resource in the United States and across the globe as demand continues to rise due to population and business growth. This emergent scarcity means businesses will face more consequences of the complex regulatory and legal frameworks governing water use and water quality.

Michael Best’s Water team understands those issues. We guide clients through the heavily regulated, politically sensitive environment surrounding the management of, investment in, and development of water resources.

Featured Industries

From artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, and cryptocurrency, the rapid evolution of technology shows no sign of slowing down. Companies in the digital technology sector are among the world’s most highly valued companies, with good reason. And businesses in every sector now use digital technology in all kinds of ways, from basic email to sophisticated data analytics.

Featured Practice

In today’s rapidly changing market, you need an intellectual property team that will enhance and safeguard your competitive position. Our nationally recognized IP practice offers three key advantages: we know your business; we understand your technology; and we have the advocacy skills to help you develop, manage, and protect your intellectual assets

Tax

Overview

Effective taxation work includes both comprehensive planning based on continually changing tax laws and resolution of tax controversies. Michael Best’s Tax team helps clients in these areas and acts as a source of guidance on any tax issue. Our attorneys are highly experienced in all aspects of tax law.

We represent Fortune 1000 and other corporations, partnerships, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, and individuals in a wide variety of business and personal tax matters at the federal, state, and local levels.

Clients look to our interdisciplinary team for their diverse tax needs, such as:

State and local tax issues, including representation in a full range of planning, audit, and contested matters

Trial and appellate tax litigation, including, on an ongoing basis, cases before the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission, municipal boards of review, and all Wisconsin courts

Department of Labor audits

Tax law policymaking, including development and review of proposed legislation, as well as administrative regulations

Our Approach

With our emphasis on proactive tax planning, we enable our clients to optimize the structure of transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs, and related transactions, ultimately achieving maximum tax efficiency. Throughout every tax engagement, we consider not only the client’s immediate tax concerns, but their entire business, as we craft an effective solution.

Our lawyers also assist clients with tax compliance and provide representation before all taxing authorities. We monitor proposed tax law changes at all levels in order to keep our clients well informed. Our team implements cutting-edge strategies to mitigate the deleterious impacts of unfavorable new laws, and to maximize any opportunities these changes bring.

Michael Best’s approach to tax law is grounded in a deep history. For decades, many of the firm’s most prominent attorneys have been tax lawyers who played leading roles both in representing clients and in formulating Wisconsin tax policy. Our current Tax group includes a former trial lawyer from the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys who have held leadership roles in the American Property Tax Counsel and the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Taxation Section. Our attorneys author numerous leading national and state tax publications, including The Complete Guide to Wisconsin Sales and Use Taxes; teach tax law at institutions such as the University of Wisconsin Law School; and regularly present at tax conferences in Wisconsin and across the United States.

Service Areas

Tax Controversy and Litigation

Helping clients resolve controversies related to federal and state taxes (primarily corporate net income taxes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes), including proceedings before the IRS, state departments of revenue, state tax commissions, and the courts.

Tax Planning

Strategic counsel on the federal, state, and international tax law implications of a wide variety of M&A, IP, real estate, and other transactions, and on the most tax-beneficial deal structures. We also help clients seek advance rulings from taxing authorities; utilize tax credit financing; and monitor, influence, and challenge new tax laws.

Nonprofit Organizations

Counseling nonprofits on obtaining and protecting tax-exempt status, governance and fundraising rules, and converting from tax-exempt to taxable status (or vice versa), as well as on other day-to-day matters.

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

Comprehensive advice on employee benefit arrangements, including health and welfare plans, qualified retirement plans, and executive compensation arrangements, and on designing a benefits and compensation program that serves the needs of employees while also meeting the organization’s business needs.

Experience

Represented a national health insurance company in a case addressing the validity of a settlement agreement between our client and the Internal Revenue Service. We successfully argued, and the court held, that the IRS could not attempt to change the meaning of its agreement with a taxpayer.

Represented the owner/operator of an apartment complex in constitutional litigation challenging legislation that prohibited Milwaukee County property owners from disputing tax assessments in circuit court proceedings that are available to all other property owners. We successfully briefed and argued the case, in which the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the statute at issue violated the equal protection clauses of the U.S. and Wisconsin constitutions.

Related People

Marie has represented clients at all stages of litigation in both federal and state court. She has experience handling a broad range of litigation matters including commercial contract disputes, property tax disputes, and product liability actions.

Bob handles complex tax cases, often involving novel or first impression issues. His practice includes federal, state and local taxation and tax controversies, trial and appellate tax litigation, property taxation of commercial, industrial, utility, and special use manufacturing properties, as well as property tax exemptions.

Brad’s practice includes all areas of estate and business succession planning. He serves as a trusted advisor to individuals, families, and companies seeking to cost-effectively structure or transfer businesses. Clients value Brad’s responsiveness, particularly his ability to help them understand complex property and tax law concepts.

Daniel focuses on business and tax law issues, and his diverse practice addresses state and federal income tax, international tax, mergers and acquisitions, new market tax credit (NMTC) financing, and state sales tax concerns. Clients value Daniel’s advice regarding business transactions, including his strategic counsel in regard to organizing and forming tax-exempt business entities, such as 501(c)(3) and other non-profit organizations.

Bret assists clients with the transactional and operational aspects of acquiring, forming, operating, owning, and structuring businesses. A problem-solver who can help companies get back on track, he is also a hard-nosed negotiator whose tireless work for clients often results in deals that surpass their highest expectations. Bret represents privately and publicly-held corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships. He focuses on matters concerning business ...

Tim provides strategic counsel on tax matters contested by the Internal Revenue Service, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and the taxing authorities of other state and local jurisdictions. Contested matters, for Fortune 1000 and other clients, include: federal income taxation of banks, insurance companies and manufacturers; multistate apportionment and allocation of income; transfer pricing among affiliated entities; and sales and use tax for retailers, manufacturers and construction contractors.

Clients turn to Martin for his tenacious problem-solving approach to all areas of employee benefits law. He is particularly valued for his track record of untangling and simplifying complex executive compensation matters. Clients seek his counsel with respect to retirement and executive compensation plan design, ongoing compliance with tax and regulatory requirements, and benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions.Martin has spoken frequently on employee and retirement benefits topics.

Related Practices

The Complete Guide to Wisconsin Sales and Use Taxes contains a comprehensive analysis of the Wisconsin Sales and Use Tax system. This treatise contains over 140 pages of text (including hundreds of examples and planning tips), together with a copy of relevant statutes, regulations, tax forms and a comprehensive index. This valuable book is widely considered the definitive work on the Wisconsin sales and use tax system.

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